


A Story of Firsts

by shanniep



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint Is a Good Bro, Dogs, F/F, Oblivious Tony Stark, Puppies, bi natasha, f is for friends, gay ofc, natasha is a happy lil assassin, superdupergay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:10:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanniep/pseuds/shanniep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanoff didn’t get crushes. Especially on short-haired, grease-stained, puppy-loving mechanics who worked for the same secret government organisation that she worked for. Yet here she was, sitting in the living room of a cosy New York apartment, a dog that weighed more than she did sleeping across her lap as a certain short-haired mechanic took a shower upstairs to wash away today’s grease and grime.<br/>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>Small insights into the relationship between Natasha Romanoff and her wife, Aria Xande. Not in chronological order. Natasha/OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Met

**Author's Note:**

> My Natasha/OFC series.

Natasha wasn’t sure where the mission went wrong. Everything had been going smoothly, their plan had been steel proof, or as steel proof as an assassination mission could get, yet somehow here they were running for their lives, bullets flying past them as they made for their Evac point. By the time they reached the Quinjet, Clint was over her shoulder, four agents were dead and another five more were seriously injured. By the time they were in the air, another agent had died and Clint had turned an alarming shade of grey, the bullet wounds piercing his body staining his clothes a vicious red. All Natasha could do was watch as medics surrounded the agent, and she backed up to the front of the jet as they attempted to stop the bleeding.  
  
When they landed, the remaining agents – Clint included – were rushed to surgery, and one particularly gutsy medic tried to get Natasha to go too, eyeing the bullet graze in her side warily, but the Russian simply glared and he ran for his life. A panicking agent caught her eye, and she quickly placed him as the pilot of the Quinjet they’d just evacuated. She barely caught the words ‘engine’ and ‘explode’ before Fury was beside her, his one eye taking in the damage before turning sharply to her.  
  
“Romanoff, go get Ari from the workshop, I want to know if this thing’s a danger to everyone on board.” Natasha moved to go, but was stopped by a quick, “And Romanoff,” She turned, “if you see a dog down there for God’s sake don’t touch a hair on its head, or we’ll all be dead before this piece of shit can even think about exploding.” The assassin could only nod, masking her confusion, before making her way off of the dock and to the lower levels.  
  
Natasha knew of Agent Ari from Barton. In the months she’d been here since Barton had brought her in, the man had mentioned this Agent Ari several times in conversation, and Natasha knew that they had to be good friends. Yet she’d never met the Agent, Barton never mentioning going to visit them when they hung out – which was most of the time, what with him being the only person to actually trust or talk to her out of missions. Naturally, she was interested in what the Agent was actually like, as Natasha got the impression Clint didn’t really get along with people easily.  
  
She wasn’t sure what she expected when she got to the workshop, but she knew that she wasn’t expecting _‘Highway To Hell’_ to be blasting from speakers on a workbench, or for a five foot, bare-footed _goddess_ to be bouncing around the workshop dancing, a dog almost the same size as her following in her footsteps, dancing with her. She came to an abrupt stop as she turned and locked eyes with Natasha, the dog stopping almost simultaneously with her, both shooting the assassin sheepish grins as the woman grabbed a remote from a nearby bench and turned the music off, a small blush creeping up her neck that Natasha did not miss.  
  
“Ah, hi, sorry…” The woman paused, not sure what to say before seeming to shake herself out of it and waving at the woman, the grin ever present on her face. “I’m Ari, what can I do for you, miss?” And Natasha was done for.


	2. First Crush

Natasha Romanoff didn’t get crushes. Especially on short-haired, grease-stained, puppy-loving mechanics who worked for the same secret government organisation that she worked for. Yet here she was, sitting in the living room of a cosy New York apartment, a dog that weighed more than she did sleeping across her lap as a certain short-haired mechanic took a shower upstairs to wash away today’s grease and grime.  
  
It had been almost a year since Natasha first walked in on Ari dancing barefoot around her workshop, and since then Natasha had made a point of stopping in at least once a week just to check in. At first she’d made the excuse that she wanted to keep Ari updated on Clint’s condition, but after Clint was discharged and out of immediate danger, Natasha had dropped the excuse and finally admitted to herself that she just enjoyed Ari’s company – not that she’d told Ari that. The weekly visits became bi-weekly, and then bi-weekly and once on the weekend, and before she knew it she visited Ari’s workshop more days than not. A few months before Ari had stopped in the middle of conversation when her stomach made a growl that honestly sounded unhealthy and asked if Natasha wanted to grab some Chinese food and crash at her place. The red-haired assassin couldn’t help but say yes, and suddenly she was having dinner at Ari’s at least three times a week when she wasn’t on a mission, passing out on her couch with her more often than not.  
  
Clint, now relatively healed, had caught on quickly to Natasha’s ‘predicament’ and often cracked jokes at Natasha’s expense. Natasha now considered the man one of her best friends, and generally just threw something at him to shut him up when he got like that. He had, however, assured her that Ari _most definitely swung that way_ and it was the one time he’d mentioned her little infatuation that he hadn’t gotten a shoe flung at his face.  
  
Natasha snapped out of her musings as she heard the water turn off upstairs, followed by soft patters on the ceiling above her. A few minutes later and Ari came bounding down stairs and into sight, dressed in a pair of grey pyjama shorts and a grey crop top that stopped just below her breasts, and nothing on her feet. Natasha had long resigned to the fact that Ari wore very little around the house, but that didn’t mean her breath didn’t catch in her throat a little every time she saw her. Ignorant to her struggle, Ari simply bounced her way over to the couch, dropping down next to Natasha and stretching slightly.  
  
“’Tasha, how long ago did we order food?” Natasha just shook her head at the nickname, knowing that arguing against it was futile.  
  
“About thirty minutes ago.” She passed the remote instinctively to Ari, her gleefully taking it and turning to the television. “Not _Fast N' Loud_ again though.” Ari whined, looking up at Natasha with wide eyes in hopes of convincing the woman to let her put on her favourite show. Natasha, as she always did when it came to Ari, crumbled. “Okay _fine_. But I chose next time.” And Ari just grinned widely at her, swinging her arms around her in thanks before quickly turning the channel over, becoming so immersed in it that she didn’t see the red head’s eyes close at the contact.  
  
Ten minutes later the food arrived, and the two sat eating out of cartons and watching as Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman raced to finish restoring a '73 Trans Ams. Ari would grumble every now and then about things they were doing wrong, but was otherwise too immersed to pay attention to anything else. Natasha took this time, as she often did, to study Ari. Her short blonde hair stuck to her face, still wet from the shower, and her bright golden eyes gleamed with awe at the television. Natasha had never seen eyes like Ari’s, but knew better than to bring it up, as every time it made Ari clam up and go to bed early, mumbling an excuse, and Natasha didn’t want that. Her small hands clutched the now empty food carton, and her legs were crossed underneath her, the tattoos trailing down her arm and around her wrists and ankles seeming to shimmer in the light of the TV. Her little pink mouth hung open ever so slightly, her pearly whites coming out to nibble on her bottom lip every so often. Natasha realised then just how damn domestic this was, and came to a decision.  
  
_Aria Xande was going to be hers._


	3. First Kiss

The first time Aria Xande felt true fear at SHIELD was when Agent Coulson marched into her workshop on a cold winter’s afternoon in December, shut off _Dust in the Wind_ and told her that Director Fury wanted to see her. Urgently.  
  
The first time Nick Fury ever truly regretted calling someone in was when Aria Xande skittered into the bridge looking downright terrified, that God-forsaken dog at her feet. The grin that was ever present across her face had disappeared and in its place was a grimace, eyes locked onto him like a hawk. The Director nodded over to the conference room to his right, and Aria followed reluctantly after him, closing the door quietly behind herself, the dog and Coulson and awaiting what she thought to be her impending doom.  
  
“Agents Barton and Romanoff are missing.” Shock flooded her system before an icy cold façade fell over her face, her back stiffening and her stare going blank. Fury and Coulson watched the transformation, both taken aback by how quickly her personality had flipped.  
  
“When?” Her tone was blank and her gaze pierced Fury in a way not dissimilar to the Widow’s. Even the dog seemed to tense, suddenly his massive size seemed threatening, and his intelligent eyes seemed dangerous. Coulson handed her a file, trying to assess the situation before speaking,  
  
“They missed their last check in, and their trackers went offline eight hours ago.” Aria didn’t make any motion to show that she’d heard, instead flipping through the file in her hands in lightning speed. Coulson knew she read fast, but not that fast.  
  
“How fast can you get me to Luanda?” Coulson looked up at the Director, wondering what he would do. Whilst Aria wasn’t officially an Agent, and worked solely as a mechanic for SHIELD, both men knew that she was more than capable of being an agent – they had, after all, spent years trying to convince her to work in the field, before finally taking her on as a mechanic. Fury just nodded, jutting his chin to Coulson, and the agent gave the go ahead.  
  
“They’re ready with the Quinjet when you are.”  
  
~*~  
  
“Barton… Barton!” Natasha hissed, eyes locked on the unconscious man hanging by his hands on the opposite side of the room. She almost growled when he didn’t wake up, though she had only just come to herself. Similarly to Barton, the red head hung from the ceiling by her hands, thick chains wrapped around her wrists and suspended on a hook. She felt the tell-tale signs of a phantom needle puncture in her neck, and sighed – they must have drugged them whilst they were breaking in. Whatever was in her system was making her drowsy and obviously hadn’t been completely broken down yet, as when she moved her head too quickly there was suddenly two of Clint, and when she tried to grab the chain and pull herself up her arms gave out on her and she fell down almost immediately, the chains digging into her wrists waking her up ever so slightly.  
  
Trying to escape in her current state was futile, so instead the assassin scanned her surroundings, trying to get a sense of where she was and what had happened. They were inside the hideout, that much was certain, and the stone walls and lack of windows told her that they were in one of the three underground levels of the building. Barton looked worse for wear, with a large cut running down the side of his face, and Natasha herself could feel the dried blood sticking to the back of her head – obviously they’d knocked them out, and used whatever drug it was to keep them out.  
  
A groan from Barton had her attention turned back to him as he awoke, but sudden footsteps outside the room quickly averted her attention.  
  
“ _Ложись спать._ ” She hissed, and suddenly the man stilled, feigning sleep. ‘Get some sleep’ was probably the only Russian he knew, as his partner often used it to warn of oncoming danger when he was waking up. The door suddenly crashed open and he forced his body not to react, trusting Natasha would have this under control. The man started speaking in broken English, moving so that he was standing face-to-face with the woman.  
  
“You tell us what you are doing here.” She stared back at him, maintaining eye contact as he shifted slightly. “You tell us what you are doing here!” She continued to stare as the man got angrier. “You had chance!” And suddenly his first reared back and Natasha readied herself for the beating, but a ruckus from outside the room suddenly caught his attention. Shouts in Portuguese could be heard, and the bulky man before her moved to venture down the corridor in confusion, swinging the door shut behind him. Moments later the yells stopped and a roar rocked the building, causing Clint’s eyes to snap open as he recognised the sound, his eyes locking with Natasha’s confused one.  
  
“Shit.” He struggled slightly against his constraints, before realising that it was useless and giving up. “She’ll be here in a minute anyway.” Natasha could only stare at him.  
  
“She?” The door burst open, knocked off its hinges and hit the wall opposite. In the doorway stood a lion. An honest-to-God lion. The Widow struggled against her chains, realising they were now trapped in a room with a dangerous wild animal, but Clint just hung there calmly, a lazy grin across his face. “Barton, we need to –” She cut herself off as the lion’s head swung to face her, and striking golden eyes met hers. Eyes she would recognise anywhere. “What...” The lion just looked away as its body started to stretch and coil, and before their eyes morphed into the shape of a human, and suddenly Aria was standing before them. Natasha could just stare, eyes wide and open-mouthed, but Ari wouldn’t look her way, keeping her head down as she moved to unlock first Barton and then her with the keys she’d snagged from a now dead guard. The blonde moved to step away, but Natasha’s hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, stopping her and forcing the woman to face her. Clint assessed the situation quick before announcing that he was going to go check that the rest of the building was clear and leaving, giving the two some privacy.  
  
Aria tried looking anywhere but at Natasha’ face. She didn’t want to see the terror, or the hurt, or the fright that would undoubtedly face her. The red head hadn’t let go of her wrist, and yet Ari still couldn’t gather the courage to face her. Now that her two best friends were out of danger, her façade had dropped and suddenly she was terrified. She didn’t want to see the look on Natasha’ face, the one she saw on everyone’s when they found out – the one that called her a monster. She _never_ wanted Natasha to think of her like that, and she’d blown that.  
  
“Aria, look at me…” Natasha muttered softly, but the shorter woman just shook her head and looked anywhere but her. “Ari please…” The woman was shaking now, trying to hold back any tears that may fall at knowing she’d royally screwed up any chance of her and Natasha being friends, let alone anything more. “Ari…”  
  
“Tasha, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry…”She murmured, head bowed and shoulders still shaking. “You must hate me, I’m so sor-” She was cut off as the taller woman yanked on her wrist, pulling her towards her, lips colliding with hers and swallowing any more apologies. Ari could only stand there in shock for a few moments, eyes wide open as she stared at Natasha’s closed ones, but Natasha was unrelenting and pressed more forcefully against her, and slowly, Ari let her own eyes slide close and began to return it.  
  
And there, in a crumbling terrorist base in the heart of Luanda, was the first time Aria Xande and Natasha Romanoff kissed.


	4. First Time at Natasha's

Normally when Natasha visited her girlfriend in her workshop she’d find the mechanic dancing around to music older than she was, with Kibble the Bernese mountain dog dancing around her feet, and some Quinjet addled with bullet holes laying forgotten in the back. So when one day in March she walked in to find the younger girl elbows deep in the engine of a Quinjet, a song with lyrics in a language Natasha didn’t know booming out of the speakers on a nearby workbench, and Kibble lying sullenly off to the side with a spanner in his mouth, she knew something was wrong.  
  
“Hey babe…” The blonde jumped at the voice, slamming her hand against the metal of the engine and hissing slightly at the sting. Natasha watched quietly as she removed herself from the engine, wiping as much grease as possible off of her hands and arms before turning to the Russian, a small smile returning to her face at seeing her.  
  
“Hey Tasha.” Natasha didn’t have to be a spy to tell that something was wrong, and she suddenly noticed the suitcases packed in the corner of the workshop near where Kibble was sulking, and turned back to the blonde, embracing her suddenly and almost sighing with relief when the woman’s arms wrapped around her and latched on. So it wasn’t something _she’d_ done, so what was it?  
  
“What’s wrong?” Aria simply held on tighter, pulling Natasha closer until there was no space between them, her head buried in the red head’s neck as she mumbled,  
  
“There’s a gas leak in my building and Fury says I can’t go to the farm so I have to stay on base until it’s sorted and Kibs and the boys have to go to a _kennel_.” She hissed the word kennel as if it were poison, and Natasha rubbed her back soothingly, understanding now. Whenever Aria couldn’t stay in her apartment, she went to the farm she owned outside of the city, but if Fury needed her on call she couldn’t go so far from base. And whilst Fury could deal with one dog in the workshop whilst Aria worked, he would not stand for five on his base all hours of the day. Which meant they had to go to a kennel. Which Aria hated with a passion – she’d rather cut off her own hand then let her dogs stay in one. And now she had no other choice. Well, there was one other choice, and at hearing Aria’s heartbroken tone and feeling the trembling in her shoulders, Natasha found herself blurting it out:  
  
“You could stay at mine.” Aria’s head whipped up to face her, eyes wide, her grip not relenting on Natasha’s back. They’d been dating for four months now, and had been friends for a year before that, and Aria had never once seen Natasha’s apartment. She knew it wasn’t a personal thing – Clint hadn’t either. _No one_ saw the Black Widow’s apartment. And here Natasha was offering her a place there just so her dogs wouldn’t have to go into kennels – something she knew most people didn’t care too much about – and she found herself tearing up at the thought.  
  
“Tasha you don’t have to do that –” She started, but was cut off.  
  
“I want you to.” Natasha was sincere, and it surprised even herself. But she _wanted_ Aria to feel welcome in her home. She _wanted_ the blonde to feel like she could come to her whenever she needed to, at home or at work. She _wanted_ her to feel like it was her home too. It wasn’t until this point Natasha had truly realised how deep her feelings for Aria went, but she decided to push that thought to the back of her mind for now, instead focusing on her girlfriend before her, and the familiar grin slowly finding its way across her face – one that Natasha couldn’t help but mirror.  
  
“Okay then, thank you, thank you, thank you!” And suddenly Aria’s lips were on hers and one arm had moved to wrap around her neck, the other tangled in her hair, and her legs around her waist, and Natasha couldn’t help but melt into the embrace. Yeah, she’d deal with those thoughts another day.


	5. First Time Saying The 'F' Word

“Do you want to get Chinese?” It wasn’t the question Natasha had been expecting. Nor was it one that really made sense in the context of their conversation – they’d been talking about the current SHIELD operation in Trinidad before Aria had stopped in the middle of a conversation to suggest it. But when an inhumane noise sounded from Aria’s stomach, and a sheepish grin and the dustings of a blush found their way over the blonde’s face, it suddenly made sense. Two STRIKE teams had returned to base today, both bringing a multitude of vehicles that were either riddled with bullet holes or huge chunks were missing due to explosives – Aria had been stuck in her workshop all day, trying to assure that the vehicles weren’t going to explode any time soon. She probably hadn’t left since this morning, and Natasha knew she had a habit of skipping breakfast so she could get here early and settle in before people started hounding her. She probably hadn’t eaten since yesterday. So instead of trying to make an excuse she simply nodded, going over and grabbing the woman’s jacket as she tried to clean off at least some of the grease from her hands and arms.  
  
“Cool, I know a place ten minutes from here, they make the best tofu chow mein in existence.” She grabbed the jacket from Natasha with a grateful grin and whistled over to Kibbles, the dog shooting up and following the two agents immediately. Natasha had soon gotten used to just how clever the dog seemed to be – words weren’t even needed between the dog and its owner for him to realise exactly what she wanted of him. It had freaked her out a bit at first, but soon it fell into the background, and she now found a sick sense of amusement in watching other agents’ bewildered reactions to the duo.  
  
The walk down to the garage was quiet, the only sounds being Kibbles’ paws hitting the ground softly behind them, and the whisperings of other agents as they walked past the unusual duo. Everyone who was anyone in SHIELD knew of Natasha Romanoff and her reputation, and equally, of Aria Xande and hers. So what were these two polar opposites doing with each other? Ari seemed oblivious, focused only on getting to the garage. Natasha, however, had no problem glaring down the agents as they walked past. Their whispers quickly halted when they fell under the intense stare of the Widow. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much – she was used to the stares and the whispers in the two years she’d been with SHIELD, and she knew no one but Clint, Ari and Fury really trusted her. But it was different with Ari there, she just couldn’t quite put her finger on why.  
  
The drive to the restaurant was less quiet than the walk down to the car, as Ari’s music blasted over the speakers the second she turned on the ignition. Natasha had gotten used to Ari’s obscure taste in music long ago, and found she actually quite enjoyed the sense of calm it had come to give her. The two chatted mindlessly, never running out of conversation topics, much like they did whenever Natasha stopped by the garage – which was most days, by this point. Kibbles watched, one eye open, from the back seat, looking for all the world like he was understanding every word that passed between the two women.  
  
Pulling into the carpark, Ari went quiet, a thoughtful look on her face before turning to Natasha nervously. “Do you wanna grab it to go and crash at my place?” Natasha’s eyebrows rose, eyes widening just a fraction. Though the two women had known each other for over six months now, they’d never really left SHIELD – most of the time they never even left Ari’s workshop. Ari squirmed in her seat under the woman’s gaze.  
  
“I mean, if you want to, I just didn’t want to leave Kibs in the car or eat in the carpark, and by the time we finished eating it’d be even darker and you don’t have a car to get home but if you want to we can –” Natasha seemed to snap out of her daze at this point, suddenly realising she hadn’t said anything.  
  
“Sure, sounds like a plan.”  
  
“Great! I mean I consider us friends now but I know you’re really private and wasn’t sure if you…You know, think we’re close enough to be comfortable staying the night.” Ari’s rambling had made it worth any discomfort Natasha might have felt if she’d focused on how close the two were getting. They were friends. Ari thought they were friends. And Natasha couldn’t bring herself to disagree. The assassin hadn’t really expected to make friends at SHIELD as most of the organization still didn’t trust her– she still didn’t even understand why Clint trusted her enough to bring her in – but now she seemed to have two, and she hadn’t even realised it was happening. There was a feeling in her gut telling her to put an end to this now, before it got out of hand and she became too involved, too attached. For once, Natasha elected to ignore it.  
  
“Well, friends trust each other right?” And Ari’s face lighting up and enthusiastic nodding at her words only served to make the woman realise that it was already too late to detach herself. She was hooked.


	6. First Time Sharing a House

Tony Stark praised himself on his insightfulness and keen eye. He thought nothing went past him or could be hidden from him. He considered himself a genius above all others with excellent people-reading skills. So how, Ari wonders, did he miss the fact that she and Natasha were married?  
  
The Avengers’ Tower had finally been completed and they were finally moving into their new home. It had taken some arguing on both Tony’s and Natasha’s sides to get Ari to move in. The woman had insisted that she wasn’t really an Avenger and so shouldn’t have a place in the tower – she was just a mechanic, after all. Clint, however, brought to light that she was in fact one of the first people considered for the Avengers Program, a fact that she knew damn well and that she should ‘stop making excuses and move in already!’ It didn’t help her case that she had fought alongside the team in the battle of New York, saving possibly millions of lives in the course of the battle. She’d argued that she had dogs, and did Tony Stark really want five dogs running amuck around his house? The short answer was no, until Natasha reminded him that each Avenger would have their own floor and the dogs would stay on Aria’s. She’d even argued that she was a mechanic and needed her own workshop and garage and equipment, and Tony had swiftly rebutted that he was _rich, remember?_ And that he had added a new workshop and garage just for her into the building’s plans. Eventually some not-so-innocent ‘persuading’ on Natasha’s behalf had convinced her to move in.  
  
On the day of the move, Natasha and Aria were the first Avengers to arrive. Clint wasn’t coming until the afternoon (something about getting up before midday was offensive to him, it seemed), Steve too, Bruce was moving in the day after, and Thor was in Asgard. The two women arrived together in one of Aria’s cars, Natasha driving for once as Aria tried to calm her nerves – she didn’t like change much, and she’d lived in the same apartment for the last twelve years. She'd gotten used to having her own space. They pulled into the underground garage Tony had directed them to – Aria’s garage, as it were. Natasha’s hand reached over for Aria’s and squeezed gently, dropping a kiss to the back of it before nodding and letting go, getting out the car. She knew how much Aria worried, and wanted nothing more than to appease her wife and get her settled. But first, they had to deal with Stark.  
  
The man in question burst into the room, a grin across his face as he ushered them into the building, intent on giving them the grand tour. The first dozen floors were completely business levels, and Aria doubted she’d ever venture down there other than to leave the building. Somewhere between the fourth and fifth floor JARVIS had spoken up, and after that it was practically impossible to get the excited girl to stop talking because _‘damn Tasha, do you hear him? He’s marvellous, truly genius Stark!’_ Tony himself seemed like Christmas had come early, happy to finally have someone around who could really appreciate the intricacies of JARVIS and his mechanics. The two talked non-stop about mechanics and engineering and electronics over the next few floors, whenever Tony wasn’t explaining what the individual floors were, and Natasha would have laughed at the pair if it wasn’t for the relief she felt that Ari seemed to have calmed down from her previous panic. Truth-be-told, she knew that Aria was still a flight risk at this point, and that she had only agreed to move into the tower for her. Now they needed to convince her to stay, and Tony seemed to be doing a pretty good job at that himself. The trio got to the levels where the Avengers’ rooms started without a hitch, but it went downhill from there.  
  
“And Natasha, this is your floor. Ari, yours is the one up from here, I figured if you ladies ever wanted some girly time together it’d be easier if your floors are together.” Aria shot Natasha a look over Stark’s shoulder as he rambled on, making his way through Natasha’s floor. The red head could only shrug as an answer. The other couples in the group had gotten shared floors – Tony and Pepper, Thor and Jane. Aria hadn’t pegged Tony for homophobic, he’d never given her reason to before, but why wasn’t she with her wife?  
  
“-And this is the guest bedroom, in case you ever bring home any company.” He wiggled his eyebrows at the assassin before moving on, oblivious to the amused look Natasha shot at Aria, and the bewildered one the woman shot back. It was official: Tony Stark had not realised Natasha and her were married. She followed the man slowly in confusion – how the hell had he missed it? They weren’t exactly subtle about it, and neither really cared about others seeing their displays of affection – they’d waited too long and been through too much to worry about trivial things like that now. Natasha just smirked at her wife, slowing her pace and moving over to her, out of Tony’s line of sight, an arm wrapping around her slim waist and lips pressing softly against her temple as she murmured,  
  
“Let’s see how long it takes him.”


	7. First Puppy

Honestly, Natasha had known it was coming. Aria had been getting restless lately. Every time the two of them were wandering around the city on a day out or taking the dogs for a walk and they passed a pet shop the shorter woman would stop and stare and occasionally insist on playing with all the little puppies inside. Natasha was glad for it, really. A year ago Matrix the Doberman passed away at the ripe old age of thirteen, and Aria had been heartbroken for months – back then she would scurry past the pet shops as quickly as possible with her head down, and now seeing her wife slowly starting to piece herself back together warmed her heart (not that she’d admit to that). But Aria had a big heart and a lot of love to go around, and Natasha could tell another little bundle of fur was definitely on her mind. So it really wasn’t a surprise when she brought it up one night as they cuddled together on a sofa in the communal area of the tower.  
  
“So I’ve been wondering…” The couple were the only people left in the room, and Aria sat straddling Natasha’s legs in her night clothes, her face nuzzling into the other woman’s neck and the redhead’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist to stop her from falling off. “And you can say no, if you want, just tell me. I don’t want you to feel obliged to say yes just because –”Natasha cut her off.  
  
“Just say it, Aria.” After befriending Ari all those years ago, it hadn’t taken her long to realise that the blonde rambled when she was nervous. It was a habit Natasha would normally find annoying, but found oddly adorable on the woman, but she’d soon learnt that it was easier in the long run to cut her off before she could work herself up into a frenzy.  
  
“Okay, I want to get a puppy.” Aria squirmed where she sat in her lap, nervous, but her response had been what Natasha was expecting, so the woman under her just smiled slightly and dropped a kiss to the exposed skin of Aria’s shoulder before replying.  
  
“If you want to, babe, do it. I’m not gonna say no. We already have four around here, what’s another one?”  
  
“No, I mean… I want _us_ to get a puppy.” It suddenly dawned on Natasha what she was really asking.  
  
“Oh…” Natasha knew where this was coming from. The couple had talked many times about them and their relationship and what their future together entailed, mostly because the two women both wanted the other to understand what they were getting into at the start of their relationship, and there had always been one general agreement between the two of them: no kids. Neither woman was able to have children biologically, anyway, but even adoption was a no-go. Natasha fervently believed that her time in the Red Room made her unsuitable to raise kids – despite how much of a natural she was whenever they visited Clint’s family – and Aria was too scared of the possibility of her past before SHIELD catching up with her and putting the children in danger. So they’d agreed: no kids. But Aria was a pack-animal at heart (Natasha had found that her wife’s therianthropy played a large role in her personality), and craved to be surrounded by and take care of her family – and family, to her, could be dogs. And she wanted Natasha to be a part of that.  
  
The assassin must have been quiet for longer than she had intended because suddenly Aria had pulled back on her lap and was looking down at her lap timidly, rambling again. “Yeah, I mean, you can say no. I’ve just been thinking about it for a while – about how great it would be for us to adopt a puppy together and for it to be _ours_ and officially have our own little family and –” A tug on her waist and Natasha’s lips ghosting across hers was enough to shut the woman up. The kiss was soft and tender and Natasha hoped that it would convey everything she was feeling that she couldn’t quite express verbally. She never was great with words. After a few seconds they parted, Aria peering up at her through her lashes with those hopeful golden eyes and a pretty little blush across her cheeks, and Natasha knew her answer. She thinks that she’d known all along, actually, but sometimes you just need something to make you realise it.  
  
“Babe, I would love to adopt a puppy with you.”  
  
~*~  
  
Prince Francis Romanoff was twelve weeks old and already weighed twenty six pounds when he was picked up from the shelter by his new moms four weeks later. The white German Shepherd pup had won over their hearts three weeks prior when they had first met him, when he’d raced across the room in all directions with his little tail wagging as soon as they’d set foot inside. He’d fallen over at Aria’s feet and just rolled over, happily looking up at the couple, as if he could tell he’d already won and it didn’t matter if he’d made a fool out of himself. It’s how he got his middle name – Francis. Clint hadn’t been too happy to know that he was the namesake for a dog, or that it was because that particular dog had some trouble staying right-side up, but it had had Aria in tears when Natasha had suggested it, and they’d decided to keep it. In honour of their best friend, of course.  
  
Natasha drove the whole way home as Aria sat next to her, happily chatting to Prince who sat contently in the back seat, yapping whenever Aria paused. It would have been weird, watching the two interact, had Natasha not known about Aria’s ability to understand animals, and in return, them her. Aria spoke to the puppy as if she would a human, and Natasha supposed that to Aria, he may have well as been. A sudden change in the conversation caught the assassin’s attention.  
  
“Who’s that? Who, Tasha? That’s your mom, sweetheart.” A yap. “I’m also your mom, yeah.” Another two yaps. “Yeah, she’s pretty great.” Natasha smiled to herself, reaching over with one hand to entwine her fingers with Aria’s, who just grinned happily back over to her, eyes crinkling. Natasha had once pondered the fact that she didn’t think she’d make any friends at SHIELD. And look at her now. She had a team, a best friend, a wife, their puppy and four adopted dogs waiting back home for her. She’d gotten a whole lot more than a friend.  
  
“Thank you, Mrs Romanoff.” Aria’s smile widened, as if knowing where her wife’s mind had gone, and dropped a kiss across the knuckles of the hand still holding hers.  
  
“Thank _you_ , Mrs Romanoff.


	8. First Time Natasha Had a Home

Three months into their relationship and Natasha saw herself at Aria’s apartment more often than her own. It wasn’t anything new, it had been like that since before they were together, but it still alarmed Natasha every time she finally went back to her own apartment and found half of her food out of date. She’d normally throw all the rotten food away before heading back to Aria’s complaining ‘there’s no food at my place’, or, if Aria was already asleep, wordlessly climbing into bed beside her. And the latter is what happened that night – it was almost three in the morning, after all.  
  
The red-haired assassin had been in the bed less than ten minutes when she heard it – the subtle _cuh-link_ of the latch on Aria’s downstairs window opening and the almost silent _thump_ of shoes hitting the ground. The sounds were quiet, almost non-existent, and if Natasha was anyone else she wouldn’t have caught it. _The guy must be a professional._ It was admittedly odd that Aria hadn’t woken up – after all, she was just as well trained as Natasha, even if she didn’t actively use it – but one look over at the sleeping blonde beside her showed that Aria was still fast asleep, one arm swung around Natasha’s hips and seemingly perfectly oblivious. It had taken Natasha longer than she would like to admit to get used to her girlfriend’s touchiness. Even before they were dating Aria had been generous with her physical contact, and she had tried to reign it in when she had realised it made Natasha uncomfortable, she really had, but it was an automatic reflex and often she didn’t realise what she was doing until after Natasha had flinched or moved away. Eventually Natasha stopped moving away, and Aria _had_ noticed that. To say it meant the world to her was an understatement.  
  
The noise of feet shuffling across the kitchen downstairs had Natasha immediately manoeuvring out of Aria’s grip, the woman in question frowning in her sleep and grabbing onto the duvet in Natasha’s absence. The woman might have laughed if it weren’t for the intruder in the apartment, and instead she grabbed the gun from on top of the bookcase by the door (one of the many firearms hidden around the apartment) and headed for the stairs, removing the safety as she went. She knew exactly what steps to skip over to avoid them squeaking and alerting the intruder to her presence. A dim light shone from the open doorway of the kitchen, and Natasha frowned to herself as she silently made her way over. She had pegged this guy as a professional, and professionals don’t need lights to break into a house.  
  
There were a few tense moments as Natasha waited with her back pressed against the wall, listening, as the person inside rummaged through Aria’s drawers, unaware of the super assassin only a few feet away. A few more seconds passed before Natasha nodded to herself, the grip on her gun tightening as she flew into the room, pouncing on the intruder without a second thought and slamming the man’s head into the open door of the fridge – apparently the source of the light. The man let out a strangled yelp, hitting the floor with some force and throwing his hands up as Natasha jumped on him, one knee pressed to his chest and her gun in front of his face.  
  
“Ow, jeez, what the fuck?” Natasha knew that voice, and she finally looked at the man’s face as the look on it morphed from surprised to slightly miffed. Natasha tucked the gun into her waistband.  
  
“Clint?” She didn’t get off of him, also slightly in shock. Why the hell was Clint breaking into Aria’s apartment and raiding her kitchen at – she glanced at the blinking numbers on the stove – 3:04 in the morning?  
  
“Natasha? What the hell? I thought you weren’t back until Saturday.” It was true. Natasha had been on a mission in Botswana for the past week, and had been scheduled to arrive back at the weekend, but an unexpected leak had forced her to finish the mission early. Clint himself had been on a separate mission in Peru. Neither of them were meant to even be in the same country, let alone together on the floor in Aria’s kitchen.  
  
“I got back early. Why are you breaking in at three in the morning?”  
  
“I just got back, didn’t want to go to mine to grab my key. Do you mind getting off?” Natasha went to get off but was interrupted as light flooded the room. Aria stood in her nightclothes (an old shirt of Clint’s that had went ‘missing’ years ago) in the doorway, a confused look on her face that quickly morphed into surprise when she saw her girlfriend holding down her best friend, and the blood trickling down said best friend’s face.  
  
“Tasha, what the hell? Did you beat up Clint?” The redhead _finally_ removed her knee from Clint’s chest and got up, grabbing Clint’s hand and hoisting him up with her as Aria made her way over.  
  
“Kinda, I thought he was breaking in.” She stopped for a moment before continuing. “He kind of was.” Beside her, Aria stood inspecting the cut alongside Clint’s temple, one hand on his chin forcing his head to the side and the other absentmindedly closing the fridge door behind her.  
  
“Yeah, he does that. Sorry, should have warned you.” Apparently deeming him fine, Aria’s hand left Clint’s chin a second before she launched herself at him, her little arms struggling to wrap around his shoulders but somehow seeming to manage. Clint just laughed, his own arms wrapping around her waist and holding tight. It hadn’t taken Natasha long to realise just how close these two were – for the longest time they were, by all means, the only family either of the two had. The love and affection the two held for each other was practically palpable. At first it had made Natasha uncomfortable, because she had never have that sort of connection, and was convinced she never would. Now, though, she’d somehow managed to worm her way into their lives, and she found that she now understood the feeling of completeness that accompanied being around people who just completely understood and accepted you.  
  
“Clint, you go shower and get some rest.” Aria said after a few minutes, managing to wrench herself away from the man. She never did like letting go after one of them had come home from a mission. “We’ll talk in the morning, okay?” With a mock salute and a ‘yes, Ma’am’, Clint made his way to the stairs, leaving the two women alone. Aria turned to Natasha, her voice low as she spoke.  
  
“Clint sometimes can’t be alone, especially after missions.” She paused, a frown pulling at her features as she watched the empty staircase he’d just disappeared up. “So he comes here. Normally comes in through the front window, grabs some food before crashing in the guest bedroom. I’ve gotten so used to it I don’t even wake up anymore, y’know?” A few months before, Natasha couldn’t have said she did. She would have never slept through anything happening whilst she slept. But now? Now she’d gotten so used to Aria slipping into bed beside her at all hours of the night that she could sleep right through it. So yes, she knew. Small arms wrapping around her waist, and a warm body pressed against hers broke Natasha out of her thoughts. Aria’s face nuzzled into Natasha’s neck and her lips brushed her skin as she spoke. “I’m glad you’re home.”  
  
_Home_. Natasha had never really had a home. Sure, there was her apartment, but she wasn’t ever there long enough to call it home, and she had no attachment to the place. Before the apartment was her time with the KGB, and she was always on the move with them, never stopping in one place long enough to call it a home. Before that was the Red Room, and she didn’t like to think about that, and that certainly wasn’t a home. But here, with Aria in her arms and the sound of Clint in the shower upstairs, she suddenly felt at home. _She was home._  
  
“Me too.”


	9. First Time Tony Realised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation of Chapter 6. How long does it take Tony to realise Natasha and Aria are married?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This was posted on April 1st on ff.net, which is why it's an April Fool's chapter

As it turned out, Tony Stark wasn’t all that observant when it came to his friends and their relationships. In fact, Tony Stark wasn’t all that observant full stop. It had been five months since the rest of the Avengers had moved into the tower, and somehow it had still escaped the genius’ notice that the two ladies on the team were married. The rest of the team had caught on quickly to Tony’s obliviousness and it had soon turned into a game between them – who could drop the most obvious hint without Tony realising. Clint was currently in the lead, having organised a game of spin-the-bottle that still had Cap flush bright red at the mere mention of it. Somehow Tony had reasoned that the two women practically humping each other on his living room floor was purely the two of them showing that they wouldn’t back down from a bet. Even that didn’t prepare the team for what happened on the first of April.  
  
March had been a particularly hectic month, with two new terrorist organisations in the east rising their ugly heads. The team had returned the day before mostly unscathed –besides Natasha who had pushed Clint out of the path of a bullet and had in turn been hit with it herself. But it had hit her shoulder, and it would have hit Clint’s chest, so it was worth it – she could survive without her arm for a while, Clint wouldn’t have survived the shot to his chest. She stood by her decision, and, reluctantly, so did the rest of the team.  
  
The team finally made it back to the tower on the last day of March. Natasha’s arm was in a sling and Aria hadn’t left her wife’s side (“Girls have to look out for each other” Tony had teased, oblivious). Other than that there were a few bumps and bruises, but nothing serious, and nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t help fix – and that’s exactly where they all headed.  
  
It wasn’t until the next evening that the team found themselves together again, all of them piled onto the sofas in the communal living room. The television played some cheesy sitcom in the background but none of them were paying it any attention, all content to just sit there lost in their own thoughts, but physically together. The come down after a mission was always a bit of a shock, and the team often needed the physical reassurance that the rest of the team were still alive and breathing. It explained why Aria and Clint were practically on top of Natasha on one of the couches. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, by any means, but the two seemed to press themselves even closer to the woman than usual, if that were possible, needing the physical contact to assure that she really was alright. No one mentioned it.  
  
After a few hours of silence Tony decided they were going to order in food. Twenty more minutes and the food was on the ground floor ready to be collected – Pepper had invoked a strict ‘no strangers in the Avengers’ quarters’ rule after an incident with a delivery boy, a bomb and Tony’s bedroom – and the boys had been ushered out to go get it. Aria absolutely refused to let Natasha go because she was _‘injured, remember?’_ and then proceeded to refuse to go herself because _obviously_ someone had to keep Natasha company whilst they were gone. The boys finally agreed to leave, knowing that arguing with Aria was a lost cause – after all, how can you argue with someone who was _literally_ as stubborn as a mule?  
  
When the boys returned with the food a few minutes later they were arguing loudly about whether or not Fury looked like Jules Winnfield from _Pulp Fiction_ (well, Clint and Tony were arguing, Bruce had elected to stay out of it and Steve just looked confused). The conversation quickly halted when they took in the scene before them.  
  
While they’d been gone Aria had moved from her seat and was now straddling Natasha’s lap, one hand resting on the woman’s good shoulder and the other in her hair, her tongue seemingly stuck down the assassin’s throat. Natasha’s injured arm was wrapped loosely around the shorter woman’s waist, the other hand grabbing at her ass like she was drowning and it was the lifeboat. A loud, annoyed groan from Clint promptly broke the two women apart, Aria’s neck flushing red as she hid her face in Natasha’s shoulder. Natasha herself just shot the archer an annoyed look at the interruption, but otherwise she didn’t move, perfectly content and not ashamed in the slightest.  
  
“Aww Ari, Nat, c’mon, not on the couch.” Clint whined, walking over and dropping his load of the food on the coffee table before them. Steve followed, his face bright red but still shooting a smile over at Natasha. It definitely wasn’t the first time he’d walked in on the two women in a similar situation, and last time they had been remarkably less clothed. Now he couldn’t even see the two women kissing without flushing crimson. Bruce followed the Captain quietly, though his eyes met Natasha’s and then flickered back to Tony as he grinned. Looked like the jig was up.  
  
Tony stared in shock for several minutes before promptly breaking out into laughter. “Good one, almost had me.” The entire team looked at him in confusion, even Ari’s head whipped up to stare at him from its place buried in Natasha’s shoulder. “Almost forgot that it was April Fools’ Day. You almost made me think that you two were together. Almost. Congrats, it takes a lot to fool me.” Everyone continued to stare at him. They’d all forgotten the date – back-to-back terrorist attacks tend to do that to a person – and the only April Fools’ Day joke that had been played had been by Tony himself (there was now a monkey named Ivan living in the vents – it had bonded with Aria, and she refused to let anyone remove him). Yet here Tony was, absolutely certain that the reason the two women were making out on the couch was solely a prank on him, and _not_ because the two women were married. And he called himself a genius.  
  
“Tony, dude, they’re married.” Their little game had been fun at first, but by this point Clint was becoming more and more worried about Tony’s mental abilities. What did they have to do to make him realise? They honestly could not have made it anymore obvious.  
  
“You have Katniss in on this too?” Tony laughed, dropping his bags of food onto the coffee table too and turning to Steve. “What about you, Cap? You gonna say these two tied the knot as well?”  
  
“Tony, they _are_ actually married. I’ve seen the rings.” Tony turned to Bruce, who only nodded in agreement, before turning back to the women on the couch. Natasha still hadn’t let Aria go (though, if she were being honest, Aria hadn’t really tried to get off the woman). Almost simultaneously the women reached under their shirts and pulled out silver chains, each with identical silver rings hanging from the end – wedding rings. Tony shook his head.  
  
“I’m impressed you went to all this effort, flattered even, but you can drop it. You’re just gonna have to admit I’m too good to be pranked. Better look next year, girls.” He boasted, before gesturing to the food and ignoring the bewildered looks of his teammates. “Now let’s eat.”  
  
~*~  
  
It wasn’t for another two months that Tony found out the truth. Fury called the tower and Tony had, for once, picked up. “Avengers’ Tower, who do you need us to avenge?”  
  
“Stark, where’s Romanoff?”  
  
“Fury? What do you want with Natasha?”  
  
“Not that Romanoff. Other Romanoff. ”  
  
“Uh, what? Did you hit your head when you lost that eye? There’s only one Romanoff here.”  
  
“Aria, Stark. Where’s Aria?”  
  
“Aria’s in the gara – wait. Romanoff? As in Aria Romanoff? As in the little short-haired, shape-shifting, car-wrecking Romanoff? You mean they’re _actually_ married!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for today! Hope you liked the chapter! x


	10. First Time At Clint's Farm

Natasha did not like surprises. Not one bit. But when your girlfriend and your best (and only other) friend insist they’re taking you to an undisclosed location for a holiday, there’s no getting out of it. If Clint and Aria were anyone but themselves, Natasha would have been able to get the truth out of them, but they weren’t. They were expertly trained spy-assassins (even if Aria was technically retired) and they knew more than anyone else how to keep a secret.  
  
“What kind of clothes do I need?” Natasha asked down the phone, standing in front of her closet in frustration. Aria had shooed her out of her apartment to her own, partly so that she would finally pack (they were leaving the next morning, after all), and partly to stop the constant questions Natasha had been shooting at her. It hadn’t worked, of course, because as soon as Natasha had gotten home she’d called Aria and continued (insisting that she needed help packing, but Aria wasn’t _that_ gullible).  
  
“Just bring everyday stuff. Casual, really casual. Honestly, like what you’d wear at mine. And something you don’t mind getting dirty.” Aria had been dropping hints like that for weeks, and she knew that Natasha was beyond frustrated. The only reason Aria would drop hints would be if it meant Natasha had absolutely no chance to guessing what it could be. The hints just left her more confused, and they often contradicted each other ( _‘bring sunscreen, we’ll be outside a lot’_ followed shortly by a _‘I’m not expecting us to change out of our pyjamas a lot to be honest, Nat.’_ was enough to confuse anyone, even the assassin).  
  
“You’re the opposite of helpful, babe.”  
  
“What was that? The great Natasha Romanoff _whining_?” Aria teased and Natasha scoffed.  
  
“Bite me.” A short breath of laughter sounded down the line followed by a distant growling, followed by several short, deep barks.  
  
“Looks like Matrix wants to take you up on that offer, babe.” The barking stopped but there was a deep panting sounding down the phone, and Natasha didn’t have to be there to know Aria was sat on the couch with a Doberman bigger than she was sat on top of her so he could listen in on the phone.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, he would.” Matrix was practically the dictionary definition of ‘angry old man that hates everyone but that one grandkid’, that one grandkid being Aria. Natasha just so happened to be that one grandkid’s girlfriend, so Matrix put up with her (mostly).  
  
“He loves you really. Now I gotta go Tash, I’ve got to talk to Clint about tomorrow, and you need to pack.”  
  
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you tomorrow when we get on the…” She could at least me told what type of transport they were getting, right?  
  
“Not gonna tell you, Nat. I’ll pick you up at seven.” There was shuffling and the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by Clint’s voice talking in the background. “Yeah, whatever Clint. I’ll see you tomorrow Nat, try to get some sleep without me okay?” It may have been a joke, but there was a hint of truth behind it. They both knew Natasha had trouble sleeping if she was on her own.  
  
“Don’t worry about me, Ari. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
  
~*~  
  
“You going to tell me where we’re going yet?”  
  
“Nope, you’ll see when we get there.” Aria laughed, catching Natasha’s eye in the rear-view mirror of the SUV that SHIELD had provided for Clint for the week (on the agreement that should they be needed, all three agents would return before the end of their agreed holiday). Clint sat in the driver’s seat, grinning at Natasha’s discomfort but keeping quiet. He was… Nervous. He had been the one to suggest this trip, but now that it was happening he was beginning to doubt himself. Aria flicking the radio station over diverted his attention though.  
  
“Hands off, Xande.” She, of course, ignored him, and turned up the volume further with little more than a jerk of her wrist and a smug grin over at him. Natasha huffed in the back seat, realising they were definitely ignoring her. It had become somewhat of a common occurrence in the past few weeks – their most effective method of not spilling anything about the holiday.  
  
It was three more hours (filled with Natasha’s complaining and Clint’s dry comebacks and Aria laughing at the two losers she decided to keep as friends) until they pulled over at the side of the road. Natasha thought they had arrived for a moment, though there were only fields for as far as her eyes could see, but then a second car pulled up behind them, much more neutral and less suspicious as the SUV and Clint caught Natasha’s eyes in the mirror and said “ _gotta swap_ ” and he and Aria were out the door, grabbing their bags and hauling them over to the new vehicle before Natasha could comprehend what was happening. The redhead followed slowly, letting out a small huff when she realised Aria had already grabbed her bags as well as her own (“ _someone’s got to be the chivalrous one in this relationship, babe_ ” is what she’d been told last time Aria had done something similar). The car swap was unusual, to say the least. Natasha hadn’t expected where they were going to require a car swap – only places with top level security would require such actions. They were going on a holiday, not to a SHIELD base.  
  
“Thanks, Agent.” Aria grinned as she grabbed the keys from the driver, Clint himself tossing the man the SUV keys in return. The man jerked his head in a nod in return but never spoke, just turned back to the SUV, got in, and drove away seconds later.  
  
When Natasha finally got herself situated into the backseat, she’d noticed Clint and Aria had switched places – Aria now in the driver’s seat, the man now in the passenger’s seat – and from how Clint was settling in and setting up the in-car movie system, it became apparent they still had quite the distance left to go.  
  
Four hours later and they pulled into a clearing (Natasha had been fairly certain the trees of the forest were going to continue forever, and let out a sigh at finally having left their shadows). Aria cut the engine, but no one made to move. Natasha’s eyes roamed the ground outside, taking in the large clearing and the two story farmhouse stood proudly in the middle, before turning back to the front of the car, where two pairs of anxious eyes met hers.  
  
“This is it.” Clint muttered, before launching himself up and out of the car. Aria followed after, a jerk of her head indicating for Natasha to do the same. They each grabbed their bags (Natasha managing to grab her own before Aria could, which resulted in a half-hearted glare from her girlfriend and Natasha kissing her quickly to stop her from complaining) before they made their way up to the house, coming to a stop on the front porch. Clint turned to Natasha. “So, we’ve been partners for a while now.”  
  
“Yes?” Clint ignored the unsure tone of her voice and soldiered through with what he needed to say. Obviously, it was important to him.  
  
“And I trust you, and Aria trusts you, and obviously you trust us or you wouldn’t have let us take you all the way out here.” Natasha’s throat constricted but she found herself nodding regardless. Trust wasn’t something she was used to having, or something she was used to giving, but she definitely trusted the two people in front of her, and they trusted her. “Good. Well, fuck, only Aria and Fury know about this place. And you. I’d like to keep it that way.” Clint waited until Natasha nodded again before nodding himself, turning and pushing the door to the house open with little effort, Natasha frowning at his back. Barton was acting weirdly, but she wasn’t given much time to think on it as Aria’s hand had reached down and her fingers had tangled with Natasha’s, drawing the redhead’s attention back to the blonde.  
  
“Remember to breathe, babe.” Then, with a grin, she was pulling the assassin into the house after Clint. The trio dropped their bags in the foyer before moving onto the next room, a wide, open room filled to the brim with knickknacks and photos and books. There was really only one way Natasha could describe it – it was a home. An average, everyday, civilian home. It looked lived in and personal, and if Natasha squinted she could see a picture of Clint and Aria on the far wall, dressed in their usual SHIELD attire but they were _definitely_ outside on the porch they’d just left and their heads were thrown back in laughter. Next to it hung another picture, with Clint and another woman that was definitely not Aria – unless Aria had grown eight inches, let her hair grow out and dyed it brown. Clint’s voice called out before she could study it further.  
  
“Honey, we’re home!” Seconds later a faint voice called back, and Natasha tensed, ready for a fight. Aria’s fingers tightening around her own relaxed her somewhat, reminding her that Clint _had_ called out to someone, and whoever they were they were meant to be there. They were not a threat. Aria and Clint trusted her and now she had to earn it and not attack whoever she was about to meet.  
  
“Clint!” A heavily pregnant woman rushed into the room, arms immediately wrapping around Clint and bringing him in for a kiss. Natasha could only watch, wide-eyed, tightening her hold on Aria to prove to herself that this was real. They pulled away a few seconds later, and Clint’s arm wrapped around the woman as the two turned their gazes to the Russian.  
  
“Laura, honey, this is Natasha Romanoff, my partner. Nat, this is Laura Barton, my wife.” Natasha voice stuck in her throat and she found that she couldn’t talk, but it didn’t matter: Laura spoke first.  
  
“Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you! Clint and Ari are _always_ talking about you.” And then the woman wobbled over, one hand on her bulging belly, and wrapped the taller woman in a hug, forcing her to let go of Aria’s hand. There were a few brief moments of panic in which neither Clint or Aria could tell how Natasha would react, but their worry was misguided because soon Natasha’s arms were wrapped loosely around the woman in return. Perhaps a year ago the outcome would have been very different, but Natasha had become so accustomed to Clint and Aria’s unusual touchiness that she herself had finally gotten used to it.  
  
“It’s nice to meet you, Laura. I’m afraid I can’t say I know much about you, Clint’s been holding out on me.” Laura laughed and finally let go, making her way back to Clint, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, deciding now to speak up.  
  
“Sorry, Nat, had to be sure.” And she could understand that. For a long time Clint and Fury were the only other people to know about her and Aria because Natasha had been so worried about the KGB finding her and using her girlfriend against her that she wouldn’t have had it any other way – and that was with Aria being an agent (though retired) and knowing how to defend herself. Eventually it had come out (there was only so many rubbish excuses they could give for their behaviour whenever the other one got hurt, and Aria threatening to maim a new recruit for causing Natasha to get shot definitely hadn’t helped), but the sentiment was there. It was only natural to want to keep those you cared about safe, and Laura wasn’t an agent, she wouldn’t have any idea how to protect herself should Clint’s work be brought home.  
  
“I get it.” She nodded over at the man, her partner, before looking back at his wife. God, she hadn’t been expecting that. It explained why they’d both been so secretive since they’d suggested the holiday, and why Clint had been so on edge all day. Natasha’s eyes dropped to Laura’s stomach.  
  
“So there’s going to a baby Barton around here soon? How’s the world going to handle another one?” And just like that, everything was fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how much I like this chapter, but I wanted to get something up before school starts up again tomorrow. 
> 
> Make sure to check out my tumblr (shanniepatto) to keep updated on when to expect a new chapter. You can also request 'Firsts' on this tumblr by sending an ask! I'm thinking of starting a small series over on tumblr about Aria and Natasha and their relationship based off those 30 day challenges you see, so keep an eye out for that if you're interested! x


	11. First Tattoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait, my exams had to take priority, but exams are over now and I'm now free until university starts at the end of September so updates should becomes more regular again! This may be familiar to anyone who's read the prompts I wrote on my tumblr, as I took one and added to it to make it a full chapter.

Natasha had always been curious about Aria’s tattoos. It wasn’t often you saw a SHIELD employee – agent or not – with tattoos, because whilst there wasn’t an explicit rule banning them, everyone knew the risks that it brought. Any marks obvious on your skin would leave you easily identifiable to anyone who knew what to look for – a cover could easily be broken if someone knew what they were looking at. But Aria didn’t seem to get the memo, and the woman proudly wore the silver markings that ran down all four of her limbs. Besides, she was only a mechanic (as she so often reminded Fury and Coulson whenever they made their ways down to her garage to try and recruit her for a mission).  
  
Natasha finally asked her about her tattoos a couple of months after they’d started dating, as they laid naked in bed together one night in Aria’s apartment. The woman had huffed out a laugh and turned to face the assassin, nose-to-nose. Natasha’s breath caught in her throat. No matter how many times Aria let her get close to her, it still overwhelmed Natasha every single time. After years of no physical contact outside of missions and training, it was a strange feeling that anyone would ever let themselves get that close to her – and that she would ever let them. Yet here Aria was, close enough that Natasha could feel her breath fan over her face with every exhale, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And damn her if it didn’t feel like it was.  
  
“Where I’m from,” Aria started, waiting for the recognition to show in Natasha’s face before she continued, because they’d only spoken of her homeland a handful of times and Natasha was largely in the dark about it. “-it is tradition to get your tattoos when you pass certain milestones.”  
  
“What milestones?” Natasha asked, catching Aria’s hand from where it had been splayed across her waist and tracing the silver ‘cuffs’ that wrapped around Aria’s wrist. Almost automatically, Aria twisted her wrist to show off the runes interlaced within the intricate design.  
  
“Wrists and ankles indicate that someone has finished their basic training.” Sometimes Natasha forgot that Aria was from a country with a required military training. The country was largely isolated from the rest of the world, and she knew very little of it besides from what Aria had disclosed. It was shrouded in a mystery that could only be matched by that of Wakanda (and ironically, when Natasha had voiced that to her, Aria had laughed and told her that Wakanda was their only true ally). “Your senior officer picks the runes that best suits you.”  
  
“What are yours?”  
  
“That one there is a protection rune. I was his favourite so he didn’t want me getting hurt.” Natasha snorted, because of course she was the favourite. Who couldn’t love the woman?  
  
“What about this one?” Natasha asked, gesturing towards the only other straight lines that she could see. Aria’s tattoos consisted largely of massive sweeping swirls of silver, and the sharpness of these lines stood out like a sore thumb. Aria only laughed when she saw what Natasha was pointing at, using the index finger of her other hand to trace the lines.  
  
“That’s Odin’s illusionary rune.” Years later Natasha would laugh as Thor grabbed Aria’s wrist and studied it carefully before proclaiming loudly that his father’s rune had never been on a more worthy human, but at the time Odin was just another name.  
  
“Odin?”  
  
“Norse God. He is known as the All-Father. This rune is normally reserved for use by warriors, it’s meant to symbolise invisibility or shapeshifting.” The snort that left Natasha’s mouth definitely wasn’t attractive, but she couldn’t help herself. How fitting – her shapeshifting girlfriend had a God’s shapeshifting rune tattooed on her body. She couldn’t help but wonder if her senior officer had somehow known, but she doubted it – Aria was far too careful with her secret to let herself be found out.  
  
“How fitting. The others?” She let her fingers trail down Aria’s arms, following the silver lines until she reached her shoulders, at which time she looped her arms around the woman’s neck and brought her closer. They’d drifted apart to allow them to look down at the tattoos, and Natasha wasn’t having that. Aria shifted so that her head rested on Natasha’s shoulder, letting out a content sigh as she settled against her.  
  
“Hmmh, another time maybe. I’m tired.”  
  
It was many years later that Natasha decided she wanted her own tattoo – regulations be damned. She and Aria had been married for two years by this point, and every time Natasha was forced to take off her wedding ring to go on a mission, her heart broke a little. So she decided to do something about it.  
  
Aria didn’t notice at first. It took a total of two weeks before she noticed, and only then it had been when Natasha had handed over her rings for safekeeping before a mission. She’d let her hand linger a few seconds too long in Aria’s, drawing a confused frown from the woman and causing her to look down at their joined hands. There were a few confused seconds of silence before a little gasp escaped her mouth and her head whipped up to meet Natasha’s stare.  
  
“Tash, what is this?” Her thumb traced the small silver design that wrapped its way around Natasha’s ring finger, almost gingerly, as if afraid she’d rub too hard and it’d be gone. The design itself was similar to that of the one wrapped around Aria’s wrists, minus the runes, and had the letters ‘A.X.’ written in a small, swirling script directly underneath.  
  
“I didn’t like taking off my ring. So I got a permanent one.” Natasha explained simply, shrugging somewhat, but Aria’s gaze had already dropped back down to their hands. “Do you like it?” Aria continued tracing the tattoo silently for a few more moments before her head whipped up and she threw herself at Natasha, arms tangling themselves around the taller woman and burying her face in her shoulder. Natasha brought her own arms down to wrap around the woman’s waist, drawing small circles into her back.  
  
“I love it.” The words were spoken quietly against the skin of her shoulder, but Aria soon pulled back, grin wide and eyes misty as she looked at Natasha in what could only be described as adoration, before joining their lips softly in hopes of expressing everything that she couldn’t quite articulate aloud. “I love you.”  
  
An almost identical tattoo found its way onto Aria’s ring finger a few weeks later, the letters ‘N.A.R.’ proudly sitting underneath it.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters are posted over at ff.net ([here](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7564007/))
> 
> Check out my tumblr for updates on writing/stories: [shanniepatz](http://shanniepatz.tumblr.com/)


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